German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced Saturday that Germany will send a new frigate to the Red Sea at the beginning of August to help secure maritime navigation disrupted by the Houthis, after the completion of its ship's mission there.
Pistorius stated in a press release that the frigate "Hamburg" will take over the duties of the ship "Hessen," which left the intervention area on Saturday as planned at the end of its mission that began on February 23.
The ship was sent to the region as part of the European Union's mission "Apsides" (meaning "shield" in Ancient Greek) to protect commercial shipping, with about 240 military personnel on board.
The statement explained that the tasks of the ship "Hessen" accompanied "27 merchant ships in the intervention area" and repelled Houthi drones and missiles four times.
Since the start of the war in October 2023 between Israel and the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have carried out dozens of attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden against commercial ships they claimed were "linked to Israel," disrupting global maritime trade in this strategic region.
The Houthis recently claimed responsibility for attacking nearly a hundred ships since the beginning of their operations.
These attacks have led to increased insurance costs for ships crossing the Red Sea, prompting many shipping companies to prefer the much longer route around the southern tip of the African continent.
Washington, the ally, formed a multinational alliance in December to "protect" maritime navigation without succeeding in stopping the attacks.
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